September 11 Chapter Meeting: ย “Guidelines for Learning to Identify Common Native Grasses of Central Texas”ย with Ricky Linex

Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, September 11, 2025, when our featured topic will be Guidelines for Learning to Identify Common Native Grasses of Central Texas with Ricky Linex.  Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.  The guest presentation begins after a short business meeting.

==> This month’s in-person location is the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd floor, 402 West 8th St, Georgetown, TX 78626. Come early (6:30 PM) for expert advice, to check out the seed swap board, or just to visit.

==> To attend via Zoom, register at https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/n5jFwji-Q4-0n7kclxcZzA#/registration

About our topic:  Come and learn the plant-identifying characteristics for 25 native perennial grasses found in and around Central Texas. Clear photos will showcase the features to look for in making positive identification. Grass ID may seem difficult but will be made easier by the photos and a handout on the characteristics that will guide you in making identification. Never again fear the grasses as you walk across the prairies and woods of Central Texas.

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About our speaker: Ricky Linex is a wildlife biologist having retired from the Natural Resources Conservation Service where he worked 38.5 years. Over the previous 18 years Ricky served 52 counties in north-central Texas. Ricky is the author of Range Plants of North Central Texas: A Land Userโ€™s Guide to their Identification, Value and Management.

His assistance to landowners and managers involves mutual education on how to better manage rangelands for sustainable use by livestock and wildlife. Knowing the plants and how to manage them is critical for success as a land steward. Ricky is currently President of the Native Plant Society of Texas.


At every meeting, we give away a book โ€” about native plants or the meeting topic โ€” to one randomly chosen in-person attendee!


* If we have permission from our guest speaker, we record the presentation for our YouTube channel. (See a list of past topics at this link.)

Have an idea for a speaker?  Let Program Leader Susie Hickman know via  email to wilco-chapter@npsot.org.

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook. See upcoming topics on our Home page or on the Calendar.

Recording Available for May 09’s topic, โ€œArcheology and Ethnobotany in Texas Botanical Gardens” with Susan Reynolds

The video recording from our chapter meeting on May 09, 2024 featuring โ€œArcheology and Ethnobotany in Texas Botanical Gardensย โ€ with Susan Reynolds is now available on our YouTube channel. Susan’s presentation starts after a short chapter business meeting.


See more recorded topics on our YouTube channel. Like and Subscribe!


See our page Prior Guest Speakers for a list of past meeting topics by year.

Business slides for recent chapter meetings are here, listed by date. (If this particular meetingโ€™s business slides were not added yet, they will be soon. Please check back later.)

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook.

Trip Report: Critchfield Conservation Preserve, May 18

— by Cindy Chrisler

Critchfield Conservation Preserve, May 18 2024. Photo by Cindy Chrisler.

Grant Critchfield hosted this field trip at the Critchfield Conservation Preserve outside of Jarrell, TX.  The preserve is very close to the Pecan Springs Karst Preserve managed by the Hill Country Conservancy and shares the same geologic structures and an arm of Pecan Creek. 

Recent rains at the Critchfield Preserve made for an interesting hike for the dozen members attending as we had to skirt puddles of mud and water.  The transition from spring to summer meant that there were fewer blooms, but didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the group.  We toured a pasture dotted with openings to small karst caves and Gaillardia, forded a swollen creek, and toured along the creek bed and an elevated meadow. 

Although identification was a bit difficult, we identified three species of milkweed vine:  pearl, anglepod, and plateau (a fourth, star milkweed vine, is present on the preserve as well).  Antelope horn milkweed are setting pods.  Prickly poppy and Texas thistle were still blooming to the delight of many pollinators.  Two mature bur oaks were encountered, one along the creek and the other providing a magnificent canopy.


See photos from this field trip and others in our album=>

See field trip plans on our Home page.